356th Edition – June 5, 2019

Catalyze and BioHealth Innovation announce transatlantic partnership.

Amsterdam and Rockville, Maryland — Catalyze and BioHealth Innovation, Inc. have entered an agreement to actively bridge the Life Sciences communities in the US and the EU. This transatlantic partnership will increase opportunities for translating biohealth discoveries to market through grant writing services, expanded technology commercialization and international soft-landing support. The two parties have a wide range of resources and knowledge which combined will better aid in delivering high-impact, customer-specific solutions.

Read More

Dr. Andrew Lees, founder and Chief Scientific Officer of Fina Biosolutions, holds over 25 patents and is the author or co-author of more than 70 peer-reviewed papers. He holds a B.S. in Chemistry from Harvey Mudd College and a Ph.D. in Biophysics from The Johns Hopkins University. GlaxoSmithKline, the Serum Institute of India, the Chengdu Institute of Biological Products, and others all use conjugation chemistry (CDAP) developed by Dr. Lees in their S. pneumonia and meningococcal conjugate vaccines. He received the Johns Hopkins University Distinguished Alumni Award in 2019 for his efforts in making conjugate vaccines affordable for low-income countries.

Dr. Lees is also an associate professor at the University of Maryland School of Medicine’s Center for Vaccine Development, an affiliate at the University of Maryland Bioprocessing Scale-Up Facility, and an adjunct professor in the Department of Medicine at the Uniformed Services University. He teaches protein chromatography through the post-graduate level and is a frequent speaker on conjugation chemistry and biotech entrepreneurship. 

Listen now on Google Play bit.ly/2CzdnA9, iTunes, apple.co/2Arsfze, TuneIn bit.ly/2M60Wmx.

Read More

Read More

A newly formed Baltimore company has raised $110 million to commercialize a cancer-detecting blood test, developed by Johns Hopkins researchers, that doctors would give patients during routine physicals.

Read More

Emergent BioSolutions Inc. (NYSE: EBS) today announced a contract award by the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response (ASPR) in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) valued at approximately $535 million over 10 years for the continued supply of Vaccinia Immune Globulin Intravenous (VIGIV) into the U.S. Strategic National Stockpile (SNS) in support of smallpox preparedness.

Read More

It’s the local company’s first step toward establishing an international presence after it was spun out last year from MedImmune.

Read More

Regenxbio (RGNX) announced that a gene therapy developed based on its technology was approved by the FDA. This gene therapy product is known as Zolgensma, which Novartis (NVS) now owns after acquiring AveXis for $8.7 billion back in 2018. While Novartis does own Zolgensma, it will have to pay royalties to Regenxbio on net sales for it. That means Regenxbio can start earning revenue for one of its very first products. The company is in good shape because it has many other gene therapy programs in its pipeline. The most notable one would be RGX-314, which is being developed to treat patients with wet age-related macular degeneration.

Read More

QIAGEN (NYSE: QGEN; Frankfurt Prime Standard: QIA) today announced the immediate launch of its therascreen® PIK3CA RGQ PCR Kit (therascreen PIK3CA Kit) after it received U.S. regulatory approval as a companion diagnostic to aid in identifying breast cancer patients eligible for treatment with PIQRAY (alpelisib), a newly approved therapy developed and marketed by Novartis.

Read More

A Baltimore-based regenerative medicine firm called LifeSprout, which makes synthetic products used to restore soft tissue, has secured $6.5 million in financing.

Read More

MCEDC discovers how Jeff is using the availability of raw talent and novel technology unique to Montgomery County, MD to help cure HIV and cancers with gene and cell therapy research.

Read More

Today, the Biotechnology Innovation Organization (BIO) released the 2019 Emerging Therapeutic Company Trend Report, highlighting ten years (2009-2018) of biotechnology funding and deal making across five areas: venture capital, Initial Public Offerings (IPOs), follow-on public offerings, licensing, and acquisitions. The report also contains a 2019 snapshot of the industry’s clinical pipeline to highlight the significant contribution of emerging companies.

Read More

The BIO International Convention is being held in Philadelphia from June 3-6, with more than 16,000 attendees expected from around the world. The convention draws a list of who’s who in drug discovery, biomanufacturing, genomics, biofuels, nanotechnology and cell therapy, with more than 7,000 companies and 47,000 partnering meetings.

Read More

June 12, 2019!

Register now for the 3rd annual Technology Showcase! The 2019 Technology Showcase will again highlight technologies being developed at the NCI and Frederick National Laboratory for Cancer Research (FNLCR) to encourage technology licensing and collaborations, startup company formation and the translation of NCI discoveries into solutions to benefit patients.

Read More

Funding and Research Opportunities

The following funding opportunity announcements from the NHLBI or other components of the National Institutes of Health, might be of interest:

Notices

Notice of Intent to Publish a Funding Opportunity Announcement for Maximizing the Scientific Value of Existing Biospecimen Collections: Scientific Opportunities for Exploratory Research (R21 Clinical Trial Not Allowed)

(NOT-OD-19-100)National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute

Notice of Intent to Publish a Funding Opportunity Announcement for Secondary Analyses of Existing Datasets of Tobacco Use and Health (R21 Clinical Trial Not Allowed)

(NOT-OD-19-104)National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute

Notice of Correction to Award Budget for RFA-HL-19-024 “Short-Term Research Education Program to Increase Diversity in Health-Related Research (R25 Clinical Trial Not Allowed)”

(NOT-HL-19-698) National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute

Notice of Change to Key Dates in RFA-RM-19-005 ” NIH Directors Pioneer Award Program (DP1 Clinical Trial Optional)”

(NOT-RM-19-007) Office of Strategic Coordination (Common Fund)

Program Announcements

Lasker Clinical Research Scholars Program (Si2/R00 Clinical Trial Optional)

(PAR-19-262) National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute

Read More

Rexahn Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NYSE American: RNN), a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company developing innovative therapies to improve patient outcomes in cancers that are difficult to treat, today announced that it will voluntarily transfer its stock exchange listing to the Nasdaq Capital Market from its current listing on NYSE American.

Read More

For aspiring entrepreneurs, the thought of building a company from scratch can be daunting. What if no one wants to buy what you’re selling? Where will the money come from to grow the business? And what will happen if you fail?

Read More

A newborn. A fatal diagnosis. And soon, a one-time gene replacement cure in the first weeks of life.

The cost? You don’t want to know.

Read More

The great American political divide shows no sign of ending as the United States lurches toward the 2020 presidential election. However, one of the few areas where the parties have joined together in recent years has been where NIH funding is concerned.

Read More